Exploring learning how to learn in a team-based engineering education

Abstract

Purpose– In this paper, the authors aim to explore how students learn how to learn in a team-based graduate course Designing for Open Innovation using a theoretical framework that focuses on the cognitive functions of team-based processes and team performance.Design/methodology/approach– An automated assessment methodology for the structural and semantic analysis of individual and shared knowledge representations serves as a foundation for the approach. A case study is presented that explores the development of individual mental models and shared mental models over the course.Findings– An assessment of the mental models indicates that in this course three types of learning took place, namely individual learning, team-based learning, and learning from each other.Originality/value– The automatically generated graphical representations provide insight into the complex processes of the learning-dependent development of individual mental models and shared mental models.